Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

Saturday 9.9.17 5.30pm I was watching lines of people outside of shelters in Florida this afternoon and remembered three   special dates in my life.   I began thinking of the hard circumstances these people were in.   In that part of Florida, m ore people than shelter space and the storm is coming.    There are probably some church buildings that are strong, brick buildings and some with canned goods and plenty of soft pews to sit and sleep on that are there nearby but not being opened and used.   I do understand completely.     I have been in that type situation many times, but especially three times came back to me today. 4.20.99 11.19am, MST, Erick Harris and Kylan Klebold entered the Columbine High School campus and started killing their fellow students. It was 5 pm before I got to the building where parents were waiting to hear if their students had been murdered.   They waited for news in the gym and I have neve...

9.10 Weddings are a joyous celebration.  There still can be problems that come up in a family and Jesus takes difficult, embarrasing situations and turns them into opportunities to trust God allow Him to provide. John 2. 2  On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2  and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3  When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4  “Woman, [ a ] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6  Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. [ b ] 7  Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water” ; so they filled them to the brim. 8  Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9...

9.8-God is a Father who wants us to ask for what we want Him to do for us? Luke 18. 35  As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36  When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37  They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38  He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39  Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40  Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41  “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 42  Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

9 .7-Before honor and glory, from God's point of view there is suffering. Luke 18. 31  Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32  He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33  they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” 34  The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

9.6-Was Jesus teaching that it is impossible for rich men/women to be saved? Or That God makes it possible to for rich/men and women to be saved by His amazing grace. Luke 18. 18  A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20  You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’ [ a ] ” 21  “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 22  When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23  When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24  Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25  Indeed, it i...

9.5-There is  a necessary way to receive the gift of being in the kingdom of God. Luke 18. 15  People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16  But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

9.4 If you are confident that you are a righteous person under Jesus' standards of who is righteous, your self righteousness, may be unrighteousness. Luke 18. 9  To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13  “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14  “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

9.3 If you want to be a person who never gives up here is what you must do. Luke 18.   Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2  He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4  “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” 6  And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will...